TomG
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Posts posted by TomG
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Even if you can find the white dye, don't waste your time. It has an extremely bad smell, and it would take many coats to get even a grey color.
Just buy the drum dyed white Veg-Tan and save yourself the frustration and effort.
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If the leather is soft, as it appears it might be, use a little rubber cement and glue it to a piece of backer board or bag stiffener. Or even a manila file folder cardboard.
Use a pair of wing dividers to mark the exact same distance from each end. From the photo, it looks like it's actually punched off. -
34 minutes ago, Ben00 said:If anyone reading this post can not correctly see the photos I just posted.
If so, I can resubmit them again upon request.
Ben N
We can see the photos now. I. for one, have not solution for you.The only latex coatings that I have used were used as a resist on black dye projects and it was peeled off after.
It's almost like you are going to need some sort of vulcanized coating, but not sure how or where to do that. If I want to waterproof leather, I use SnoPruf, but that has to be reapplied from time to time. And, to my knowledge, washing it would take it off or at least weaken it. I've also use Mink Oil paste, but the same caveats apply.
Maybe a saddle maker has an answer for you. But, I think the washability factor is going to be your stumbling block here. -
Download the Fotosizer program. It's free and does a great job of resizing without loss of quality
https://www.fotosizer.com/
Max file size is 1.46MB. Not sure of what photo formats this site accepts, but .JPG is always a good choice.
Not sure what you are doing to post the binary type code, but it won't work. Just click on the choose files at the bottom of the message and pick them from your folders
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On 12/6/2021 at 4:11 PM, Piko said:That makes sense. For now I keep the leather undyed. I just apply Neatsfoot oil to it. The black color I achieve by using vinegar in which I dissolved steel wool and then neutralized its acid with sodium bicarbonate. It’s called mordente ferroso in italian and here, probably, ferrous acetate?
Thank you for your tips.
Called Vinegaroon here in the states.
Like other said. Avoid Tandy if you want a good leather. I buy from Thoroughbred on KY. Always got good stuff.
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Your photo didn't show up.
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A lot of folks have easily modified these to act as a manual clicker. They add a cutting block and plates.
This is the 20 ton press. They have a 12 ton for less.
At one time, they also had a pneumatic model, but I didn't see it on my quick search. But, it sure would make it faster to do repeated cuts.
https://www.harborfreight.com/20-ton-shop-press-32879.html -
I could be wrong, but I think is needs to be an odd number of strands. I've seen YouTube vids for 5 stand and I THINK there was one for any odd number.
Have you tried cutting 6-strands and just using the same groups of 2 and do it like a 3 strand? I'm not sure what it would look like, but pretty sure it would be weird, LOL. -
A lot of it is strap rings and end pieces.
The ones with the prongs should have a matching backplate the the prongs go into on the inside of the bag and then fold over. the ones with the 2-3 holes mostly go onto an edge or slot in the bag and are secured with screws from the inside.
A couple look like that would go on the ends of the shoulder straps, one or 2 might be magnetic closures.
They look like nice pieces, and gives you a good excuse to make some handbags. -
Maybe remove the metal pull and tie some leather lace in its place as a pull.
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Message sent
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I have an acquaintance who is looking for someone to possibly make some camera cases for him.I am not a case maker and really don't have the time to get up to speed on learning how to do it right. I've made a few fairly simple ones, but am no way a pro at doing them.If you might be interested and can do it for a reasonable and fair price, PM me and I'll forward your info to him. -
4 hours ago, Matt S said:@TomG I've bought hardware from China when I can't get what I want from closer to home, but can you seriously not find it in the US? The UK has a fraction of the manufacturing capability of your country and I have two foundries I order from regularly. Often with next-day shipping. They're 2-3x the cost of the ones from Chairman Xi's Workers' Paradise but it's well worth it for the quality, the speed of delivery, and keeping the money and skilled jobs onshore.
These are the two I use, both long-established firms in Walsall, the traditional home of English saddlery and associated leather trades:
https://www.abbeyengland.com/ (you'll need to sign up for an account to see prices)
https://www.fmartinandson.co.uk/Believe it, Matt. Look at my OP and see the list of suppliers I tried. There may be others, but Google search doesn't pull up anything promising. I know it's not all-inclusive, but fairly thorough. I have 5 wholesalers I use and between them, I was able to get 50 of the 3/4" x 3" , solid brass, square eye swivel snaps. I routinely pay around $1.80 - $2.00 ea for them. 3 of them were out of stock and I cleaned out the other 2.
eBay, Etsy, Amazon, and several others had a few in stock..Limited quantities and anywhere from $4.50 to $8 ea. When you are making a quantity of items that sell for $14 ea,, a 20% - 400% increase in hardware costs equates to about a 60% product price increase. Can't do that and the customer's won't pay it.
I have checked into both of those sites you referred to and by the time you add VAT, shipping and customs fees, you're in the same price range as US retailers.
Hopefully, supplies will open up soon and bring reasonable prices back..
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3 hours ago, Brewerkel said:I can't guess what kind of volume you need but CMC was a great source for those wholesale.
https://www.custom-metal.com/index.htmlThanks. I only saw them in 1" size but sent them a info request.
Thanks1 hour ago, chuck123wapati said:i never ordered from China on purpose but i have received stuff I've ordered from China if that makes sense. seems most of the crap on ebay is directly shipped now a days usually free shipping and three times as cheap as the same exact product sold from a US address.
Hah. For some reason I didn't even check eBay. Probably because I usually buy wholesale and didn't even consider them. I'll take a look. Ya never know.
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14 hours ago, Handstitched said:@TomG The last time I ordered something from China, it took 6 weeks, years before COVID. Every time I enquired, all I got was " thank you , have a nice day" ....and thats it . WTF ?? Never again.
The bits you're after are available here in Oz :http://www.adelaideleather.com.au/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=5_34_36&sort=20a&page=1
I have an account with them. Theres also Birdsall Leather in N.S.W. , they too have solid brass hardware.
Might not help you much, but no harm in asking.
HS
Thanks,
I've ordered stuff off Etsy that came direct out of China, and times run around 3-4 weeks. Unless it's over one of their national holidays..
I'm not sure of the exchange rate from AUS to USD, but as heavy as these are, I would think shipping from there might be prohibitive.
But, it's something I'll look into -
Has anyone had experience ordering hardware directly from China?
Since Covid hit, I have been struggling to get brass hardware for my dog collars and leashes. Especially the 3/4" brass snap swivel bolts with the square eye.
I spent hours searching my normal suppliers and new sources and found everyone either sold out or 3 times the normal price.
I've checked OTB, Buckleguy, CDW, Batz, Beiler, Ravenox, Amazon and a few others I can't remember of the top of my head. -
I used to use blue tape on the back, but with some leathers, it pulled up the fibers and made it sort of fluffy, for lack of a better word. How much, if at all, depended on the quality of the leather and what part of the side I was cutting it from.
Since then, I dip dye 95% of my work - mainly strap type of products. I then use Molotow 15mm markers to apply an edge color of my choice and after that dries, to apply a little liquid glycerin soap to burnish the edges with. Makes it super easy, effective and most of all, clean.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008H47HP2/ref=twister_B07GBDY6LH?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
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Shoot them an email and ask them. It's their leather scraps and since they make boots with it, they would be the best ones to advise you.
Be sure to show us some of your finished product! -
7 minutes ago, Dunluce said:Nice one. Think I’ll give it a go. Appreciate all the replies.
Shoot us a photo when you finish!
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Years ago, the letter sets like Tandy's were made of a different metal than todays. Lots of folks heated them up on a gas stove to do this, even going so far as to burn the letters in.
In the past 10+ years ago, they have gone to a zinc pot metal that melts pretty easily.
I have one of the inexpensive heat presses off Amazon and it works like a champ. I use 125 degrees C (257F) and press the foil for 2 seconds. Works great.
If it were me, I'd try it by heating the stamp on an electric stove, skillet, etc, that I can adjust the temp on and measure it.
Put the letter face down (no handle) for a few minutes, checking it frequently, then stabbing the handle on and quickly doing the stamping on some scrap.
Another remote possibility, depending on the letter size, is to check eBay and see if you can find individual brass letters and just buy those. They can heat up nicely.
Best of luck!
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8 hours ago, Handstitched said:Can you borrow a set from someone ? , or, buy a set, and sell it on ( to someone on here perhaps ? ) to at least get your money back , just a thought .
HS
Already checked with the 2 folks I know in my area. No luck.
Moot point now anyway. She decided to go with the standard western set, so it's all good.40 minutes ago, Northmount said:Take your collar in to Tandy and borrow their stamp set to see how well they work!
Back when Chuck Dorset and John Pribbenot ran the local store, I could have done that, as I was a distributor back then. Since then most won't allow it.
Moot point now anyway. She decided to go with the standard western set, so it's all good. -
8 hours ago, Handstitched said:Theres a set at Birdsall , Australia...not much help for you though, sorry. They are quite pricey, and the freight even more.
9 minutes ago, tsunkasapa said:Here is a slightly cheaper set on eBay.
Thanks to both.. I can get one at Tandy for $42 USD with my business discount, but really didn't want to spend that for a set that I will likely never use again. Not worth it for a $35 dog collar.
Early on, many years ago, I'd go ahead and buy it, expecting to use it down the line, but I am likely going to be shutting down in the near future. Getting too much arthritis in the hands.
Later. -
I'm looking for this set for a reasonable price. I need it for 1 project and don't know that I'd ever need it again, so don't want to spend a ton on it.
Thanks
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7 hours ago, Kimlet2156 said:Hi, have a question. I have a customer that wants a crossbody bag out of a particular piece of leather. The problem is I don’t have enough to make the long cross body strap in one piece. Im looking for suggestions on how to splice the leather together to make it strong enough to hold a lot of stuff? I plan to use two pieces of leather glued together and stitched on the edges. But what would be the way to approach the spliced area? Thanks for any help in advance!
Might help to know what kind of leather.
I've made 30-40 foot dog training leads from Latigo and VT. I skive the ends down on opposite sides and the use contact cement to glue them together and them do a running stitch up each side at the splice for strength.
For a bag, you'll probably want to stitch the whole length of the strap for aesthetics sake as well as strength.
What would you do?
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What the others said. Properly treated and stored leather last many, many years.
I have a bunch of belts that i friend let me have and they have been in storage about 15 years. Still good as new.
Since you used Mink Oil Paste, I'd use that to give them a fresh coat.